1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to exterior coatings for buildings and the like and, more particularly, to vinyl siding panels for building exteriors that cover an increased surface area and are easy to install, thus reducing the time and effort required for installation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over the years, it has become an increasingly popular practice to cover the exterior surfaces of buildings, especially dwellings, with aluminum or vinyl siding in order to protect the building exterior and provide a durable, long-lasting and aesthetically pleasing finish. Produced in a wide variety of colors and textures, conventional aluminum and vinyl siding consists of long strips, between six and twelve inches in height, that are attached to the building horizontally. The elongated strips are formed such that adjacent strips interlock with one another, creating a sealed seam in between. The strips are cut to appropriate lengths and angles, if necessary, in order to conform with the contour of the building and to account for openings such as windows and doors. Special moldings, designed to accept the siding strips, are used to trim corners and edges as well as door and window frames.
Covering the exterior of a building with conventional siding is a difficult and time-consuming process that usually requires installation by a qualified professional. Cutting the strips to match the contour of the door frames, window frames, roof peaks, gables and abutting wall surfaces requires skill and experience in order to produce quality results that are both durable and aesthetically pleasing. Maintaining parallelism between the strips is essential to ensure proper appearance and layout. Furthermore, special equipment is required to cut and trim the strips to the appropriate lengths and angles.
As a result, installation of conventional aluminum or vinyl siding by the average homeowner is impractical due to the inherent complexities and the requirement of specialized tools. Although the homeowner can reduce the cost of professional installation by as much as fifty percent or more, the added cost of special tools and complexity of the work offsets the savings and greatly reduces the feasibility of personal installation as a viable alternative.
The present invention solves these and many other problems by providing vinyl siding panels for building exteriors that are rectangular in shape, cover an increased surface area and are easy to install, thus reducing the amount of time and effort required. The panels are manufactured so as to exhibit the same visual qualities available in many conventional sidings, such as woodgrain, log, brick, stucco and other materials of varying textures and colors. Installed adjacent to one another, the panels are designed to minimize the presence of seams between one another in order to create a homogeneous layer on the building exterior.
In the ancillary art, several materials and methods have been developed in order to create coverings for exterior building surfaces. U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,093, issued in the name of Meadows and U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,351, issued in the name of Kasprzak, disclose conventional vinyl siding designs consisting of extruded planks with pre-formed slots and grooves that accept and mate with adjacent siding segments. The siding planks are installed horizontally across the building exterior surface in abutting rows. In both the Meadows and the Kasprzak inventions, problems exist in that installation involves procedures that require special skill on the part of the installer and specialized tools for use in sizing and cutting the planks to fit the contour of the building. The present invention serves to reduce the amount of skill, time and effort required on the part of the installer and is therefore an improvement over the prior art devices disclosed in the Meadows and Kasprzak patents. The Meadows and Kasprzak patents do not address these issues and do not preclude the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,031, issued in the name of Spain et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,381, issued in the name of Saloom, disclose methods for extruding vinyl siding and the like in varying colors and textured patterns. The present invention is not intended to, nor does it teach, the manufacturing methods used to produce the vinyl siding panels for building exteriors. Therefore, the Spain and Saloom inventions do not anticipate nor preclude the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,654,120, issued in the name of Ewing, discloses an early attempt to create a "log cabin" look using wooden planks, with a rounded outer surface, to cover the exterior of a dwelling. In the Ewing patent, the planks are arranged in an interlocking manner, with round end pieces protruding where two walls meet at a corner, in order to create the appearance that entire logs rather than a contoured planks were used in the construction. This disclosure does not incorporate sophisticated interlocking mechanisms and does not require the use of specialized tools and the like. However, it does require the installer to apply custom carpentry methods, such as coping, joining and shaping, in order to fit adjacent pieces and navigate the contour of the building. Furthermore, the Ewing invention does not address the problems associated with the time and effort associated with applying the covering in plank form.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,422, issued in the name of Hoffner and U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,153, issued in the name of Woolems et al., disclose simulated log siding for buildings in which long strips whose surfaces resemble wooden logs are attached to the exterior surface of a building in order to create a "log cabin" appearance. The siding disclosed in the Hoffner patent are constructed of vinyl, aluminum or steel whereas the siding disclosed in the Woolems patent are constructed of wood or vinyl. As with the Ewing patent, the planks are arranged in an interlocking manner, with round end pieces protruding where two walls meet at a corner, in order to create the appearance that entire logs rather than a contoured planks were used in the construction. The interlocking means incorporated in both the Hoffner and the Woolems disclosure consist of preformed slots and grooves that accept and mate with adjacent siding segments. These joining methods add to the complexity of the installation and indicates the degree to which increased surface area coverage of the present invention provides a dramatic improvement over the Hoffner and Woolems inventions. Furthermore, the aluminum, steel and vinyl embodiments of the Hoffner and Woolems inventions require the use of specialized cutting tools and jigs. The present invention eliminates the need for these devices. Accordingly, neither the Hoffner nor the Woolems inventions anticipate and therefore do not preclude the present invention.
A search of the previous art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention. Consequently, a need has been felt for an exterior wall covering for buildings that produces the same protective and aesthetic qualities as conventional aluminum or vinyl siding while reducing the installation complexity and requisite skill level of the installer and eliminating the need for specialized tools, thus making possible installation by the homeowner.